HNB Finance appoints four new Directors

HNB Finance PLC yesterday announced the appointment of Renuke Wijayawardhane, Shanti Gnanapragasam, Nabiha Mohamed and Dr. Thisuri Wanniarachchi as Independent Non-Executive Directors with effect from 8 September 2026.

Renuke Wijayawardhane is an Attorney-at-Law and a distinguished capital market professional with over three decades of experience in securities market regulation, corporate governance, supervision and compliance. He retired in July 2025 as the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), bringing to a close an illustrious career spanning more than 31 years with the CSE.

During his tenure at the CSE, Wijayawardhane provided strategic leadership over the Exchange’s regulatory functions, overseeing regulatory policy, listing, broker supervision, trading operations, market surveillance, and listed entity compliance. He played a pivotal role in developing and implementing regulatory and policy frameworks that supported the growth and integrity of Sri Lanka’s capital market, while also leading stakeholder engagement with regulators, issuers, stockbrokers, investment banks, listed companies, and investors.

He was instrumental in several key market development initiatives, including the implementation of a host of new capital market products on the CSE, introduction of new listing frameworks and Boards, and developing the regulatory and policy frameworks of several critical market infrastructure initiatives such as Delivery versus Payment (DvP), Central Counter Party Clearing (CCP), and digitalisation initiatives.

Earlier in his career, he headed the Central Depository System (CDS), contributing to the strengthening of CSE’s post-trade infrastructure and settlement systems.

Following his retirement from the CSE, Wijayawardhane served as a consultant to both the Colombo Stock Exchange and the Dhaka Stock Exchange, Bangladesh. He currently provides advisory and consultancy services on capital market functions, including capital raising, corporate restructure, regulatory and legal compliance, risk management and corporate governance to listed companies, investment banks, and stockbroking firms.

Wijayawardhane holds an LL.B. (Hons.) Degree from the University of Colombo and is widely recognized for his expertise in capital market regulation, securities and corporate law, governance, compliance, market operations, and regulatory enforcement. He is also a respected speaker and resource person at local and international forums on capital market functions, market regulation, securities law and corporate governance.

Shanti Gnanapragasam serves on the Boards of Cargills Bank PLC, Wealth Trust PLC and Vision Fund Lanka Ltd., as an Independent, Non-Executive Director. With over 40 years of extensive banking industry experience, Gnanapragasam has held several corporate leadership positions in the areas of Treasury Management, Risk Management, Credit, Centralised Operations, and Trade Finance. She has served as Chief Group Risk Officer, Vice President Shared Services and Chief Credit Officer at NDB Bank PLC. Previously at HNB, Gnanapragasam held the roles of Chief Risk Officer and Head of Treasury and Markets with responsibility for Treasury Management and Trading in Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Derivatives. In her career, Gnanapragasam has also held the positions of Group Treasurer of Hayleys PLC, Deputy Head of Treasury at People’s Bank and Director Treasury and Country Head of Global Markets at American Express Bank Ltd., Sri Lanka.

Her experience includes Treasury Systems evaluation and implementation, leading specific accounting standard change projects such as IFRS, providing training for bankers, auditors and accountants in Credit, Risk Management, Treasury-related technical subjects, Accounting, Leadership and Mentorship. Her higher education comprises a BSc (First Class in Zoology) from the University of Madras and Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK as well as the Chartered Global Management Accountants. Gnanapragasam holds Dealer Certification from the ACI Financial Markets Association Paris.

Nabiha Mohamed is a corporate finance, investment and strategy professional with over 12 years of experience across Sri Lanka, the United States and Canada. Her career spans corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, transaction advisory, private equity and real estate development.

Mohamed currently serves as Head of Strategy and Growth at Lynear Wealth Management. Prior to joining Lynear, she served as Lead Transaction Advisor at the State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit under Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, where she led five priority divestiture transactions valued at over $ 600 million across the hospitality, insurance and oil and gas sectors.

Previously, Mohamed held strategy and corporate finance roles at CHEC Port City Colombo and John Keells Holdings, contributing to major strategic and investment initiatives. She is a CFA Charterholder and holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, with a double major in Economics and Biochemistry. She is actively involved with CFA Society Sri Lanka and serves as Chairperson of the Candidate Council.

Dr. Thisuri Wanniarachchi brings over a decade of experience in development finance, public investment operations, policy and institutional reform and social protection in Sri Lanka and internationally.

She currently serves as National Program Coordinator for a major multilateral social protection policy and investment financing program in Sri Lanka. She has previously worked with the World Bank across the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and East Asia and the Pacific regions, as well as with the Government of Sri Lanka, including at the Ministry of Economic Reforms and the Presidential Secretariat. Dr. Wanniarachchi has played a leading role in strengthening Sri Lanka’s national social protection system, including in the design and implementation of the Aswesuma program and its social registry during the country’s economic crisis response in 2022.

She holds a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Colombo and a BA in Political Economy from Bennington College in the United States and Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. She is also the author of several nationally acclaimed books.